The seafood industry has long been seeking to solve the problems associated with the peeling of the shell from a shrimp and removal of the sand vein in an efficient and economical manner, while at the same time producing a shrimp body having a desirable appearance. During the cutting of the shell prior to removal of the vein, the cutting blades often tear into the meat making many processed shrimp undesirable for presentation and useful, by way of example, only for a shrimp meat filling. There is a need for cutting the shell without damage to the meat, while still being able to effectively remove the shell and vein from the shrimp. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,682 to Lapeyre discloses the need for providing a clean-cut operation which preserves the integrity of the shrimp meat by individually cradling and securing one shrimp for cutting through a dorsal side of the shrimp and ripping out the vein.
By way of example for processing of large quantities, restaurants and retail stores have typically relied upon commercial processors for providing the peeled and deveined shrimp. Processors will typically rely on large machines such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,760,224; 3,040,374 to Miller; 3,787,928 to Domecki, and 4,393,543 to Martin, such machines typically require motorized cutting and shrimp handling devices which are costly and cumbersome.
Further, in the interest of freshness and cost, there is a need for a machine that can be effectively used by in the home, by the small grocer, chef, and small seafood retailer, by way of example, without having the need for the high volume processing and experience demanded by of a commercial processor. There is a further need to be able to cut the shrimp for deveining and ease in manually peeling the shell from the desirable shrimp body in a timely manner, without the undesirable handling, and with the result of a desirable production for the effort and time spent. The cleaning and preparation of a fresh shrimp should not have unfavorably impact on available space, equipment cleaning and power demands.